J. Scott Applewhite, File via AP
In this June 8, 2018, file photo, Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, at a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington.
- Republican Rep. Steve King of Iowa, a controversial lawmaker who's used white supremacist rhetoric, questioned on Wednesday whether there would be people left on earth without "rape or incest," provoking a bipartisan avalanche of criticism.
- "What if we went back through all the family trees and just pulled those people out that were products of rape or incest? Would there be any population of the world left if we did that?" King asked at an Iowa breakfast.
- Both Democrats and Republicans swiftly condemned the remarks and at least one House Republican called on him to resign.
- King has said that Western societies are threatened by nonwhite immigrants. Here are some of King's most disturbing comments.
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Republican Rep. Steve King of Iowa questioned on Wednesday whether there would be people left on earth without "rape or incest," provoking a bipartisan avalanche of criticism. It was first reported by the Des Moines Register.
"What if we went back through all the family trees and just pulled those people out that were products of rape or incest? Would there be any population of the world left if we did that?" King asked at the Republican event in Iowa. "Considering all the wars and all the rapes and pillages that's taken place, and whatever happened to culture after society, I know that I can't certify that I'm not a product of that.
Both Democrats and Republicans swiftly condemned the remarks and at least one House Republican called on him to resign.
Yet the disturbing remarks highlight King's long history of incendiary and often racist comments throughout his sixteen years in Congress. Earlier this year, King was stripped of his committee assignments after he asked why white supremacy was offensive in an interview with The New York Times. He's refused to resign.
Here are some of King's most troubling comments to date.